The Ethics and Aesthetics of Sympathy in Sophocles' Philoctetes

The Ethics and Aesthetics of Sympathy in Sophocles' Philoctetes

Video recording of a lecture delivered on October 11, 2024, by Dr. Ellwood Wiggins as part of the Formal Lecture Series.

Professor Wiggins (SJC Annapolis, 1998) is an associate professor in the German department at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he teaches comparative literature and philosophy. He has also taught in Kentucky, Germany, and Russia. His teaching and research explore how people come to know one another and themselves, often exploring literary figures such as Odysseus or Philoctetes.

Professor Wiggins describes his lecture: "The plot of Sophocles' Philoctetes turns on the experience of sympathy, which is often given credit for the moral education of Neoptolemus, Achilles' son. Yet is this emotion a reliable force for good? Sophocles' tragedy is a perfect proving ground to explore this question, and to test Aristotle's description of compassion in the Rhetoric."

Annapolis, MD

2024-10-11

A signed permission form has been received stating: "I hereby grant St. John's College permission to: make a recording of my lecture, and retain copies for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library; make a recording of my lecture available online; make typescript copies of my lecture available for circulation and archival preservation at the St. John’s College Greenfield Library; make a copy of my typescript available online."

moving image

mp4

English

LEC_Wiggins_Ellwood_2024-10-11_ac

mov

00:50:14